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Veterans Talk_ Battle Buddies VS Mlilitary Buddies · Military Broadcast Radio | MBR Talk

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This entire military is 1 for pieces, dedicated force and the
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or if he knew who your father intimidated.
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But if you. Military broadcast radio The
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Find us. On the web, opinions expressed
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in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily
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reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.
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Welcome to veteran Talk with Magic Mike, where what's
1:33
important to you is important to us.
1:37
Let's talk. I'm your host, Magic Mike, and
1:40
today we're diving deep into something close to my heart, how
1:44
sharing your story and getting behind the mic can be a powerful
1:48
form of rehabilitation, whether you're fresh out of service
1:51
years into civilian. Life 20 years it's been 20 years
1:54
since we saw each other in Iraq and he.
1:56
Looks. Older.
1:57
And now we're not all poets or motivational speakers, but you'd
2:01
be amazed at how therapeutic it can be just to talk.
2:04
One thing I've learned is that every story has value.
2:07
Doesn't matter if you were on the front lines or behind a
2:10
desk. Your experience is worth sharing
2:13
and trust me, somebody out there needs to hear it.
2:16
Broadcasting gives us a way to say, hey, this is who I am and
2:20
this is what I've been through. It bridges gaps, builds
2:23
community and creates new purpose.
2:27
Hey, welcome everybody to veterans Talk with yours truly.
2:30
DJ Magic Mike at H Trainer in the studio or another episode
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here Thursday. You catch us every Thursday
2:37
here. In June we're going to go back
2:38
to two hours. We're only after hour episode
2:40
right now, but in June we're going to go back to two hour.
2:42
But we got a great show for you today.
2:43
Hell yeah. So today's show, we're going to
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talk about staying connected after service stories of
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lifelong bonds. So yeah, it's going to be a
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great show today. We got a couple people that
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we're going to call and, and we got a couple stories we'll share
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with you and stuff like that and and we'll we'll share our story
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with you. How about that?
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Hell, I didn't even know we had some people to call.
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Yeah, we had some people to call.
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That's a great thing. So.
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So basically they wore the same uniform, they faced the same
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battles. And long after our service
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ended, our bond stage gone. So today we're going to
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highlight the real stories of veterans whose friendship didn't
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end with their final deployment, but rather became a lifelong
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source of strength support. Just I mean, it's survival.
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I mean, that's the best way to say it, right?
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So we just want to remind every veteran is out that's out there.
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You're not alone. I don't care what war you served
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in. I don't care if you served in a
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war, right? You're not alone.
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We're veterans and we're part of that, that special brother and
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sisterhood that, you know, we got initiated in to the club by
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being, you know, graduates of basic training, right?
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So yeah, I'm, I'm excited about it, really excited about it.
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And you know, I want, I want to take note.
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I mean, I, you told me not to be negative and I'm not being
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negative, but you know, I do want to say that there's a lot
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of there's a lot of veterans that get it confused with the
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battle buddies and, and battle friends.
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And we're going to talk in the second segment.
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We're going to talk about my view on what's the difference
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between a battle buddy and a battle friend is 'cause we all
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know, we all know that if you go to college and you're really
4:30
good at college doesn't necessarily mean that you're
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going to get be good in the NFL. Good point.
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I don't know where that came from, but yeah, today we're
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going to talk about some things that every veteran knows deep
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down. Unbreakable bond formed in
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service. When the uniform comes off, the
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connection doesn't. And these friendships aren't
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just memories, they're life lines.
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We're closer and, and I think every veteran can say this, and
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we're closer with the people we served with, sometimes more so
4:59
than we are with our own family members.
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So you know, there's a concept, there's a difference in concept
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of battle buddy in and out of uniforms, right?
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So battle buddy in uniform, he's got your back, he's got your
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six. You know, you're shooting and
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moving, shooting and communicate and shooting, moving, moving,
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shooting, right? That's your battle buddy and
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stuff like that. It kind of there's it's kind of
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different when you get out of uniform, right.
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I mean, you're still got each other six, you still got each
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other's back, but there's more of a support there.
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You know, I'll I'll share my story.
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Just a quick short story served in in the 82nd with Joel.
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Joel was one of my one of my soldiers and, and we worked
5:33
together and you know, we shared a lot of great moments and a lot
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of a lot of hard times and and sad times too.
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But one of the great things is that he was always there and I
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was always there right. So you're going to have those
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guys that you serve with. They're the, the, the, the
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talkers, the gossipers, the ones that think that they're better
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than everybody else, right? Like any job you have.
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And then you got lifelong friends, right?
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You know, and it, it, and here's the reality is, even if those
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assholes that I don't like, and I'm not going to say any, any
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names like Michael Davis or anything like that, But you
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know, if he called me today and said, hey, man, I'm really down
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on my luck, man. I, I got no place to stay.
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He, he would definitely have a place here, You know what I
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mean? That's just, that's just who I
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am as a. Human right next to the dog bed,
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right? Probably.
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But yeah, nonetheless, you know, we served.
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Joel and I stayed friends for many, many years.
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We reached out to each other here, there and everywhere.
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Specialist Gilbert, who served in the military with us.
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I see him and his kids, grew up with my kids and stuff.
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And I see him quite often. He always gives me a big
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freaking hug and says, man, how's it going, Sarge?
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You know, different things like that.
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It's, it's there's a friendship that in memories that last a
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lifetime, right? You know, 20 years, Joel and
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I've known each other for over 20 years and well, the last time
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we saw each other, I'll say is it 20 years, over 20 years ago
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when we were in Iraq together was the last time, you know, he
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got injured. I got injured and you know, we,
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we went our separate ways. And again, you know, I say this
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a lot of shows, you know, H train, a lot of people come home
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and they, they start their families, right?
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And they, they go on to college and, and get jobs and stuff like
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that. They kind of put the, the
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military on a back burner or, you know, some people even want
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to forget about the military. You know, I, I have people that
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you know, said, but I will tell you this, that nothing feels
7:11
better then when I talked to somebody who served where I
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served, who's been where I've been and they've had the same
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trials and tribulations that I've had, right, Because no
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doctor can ever say to me, I understand which H string can
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because he's been there, he's been through there.
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And I'll tell you what that really is a cushioning for me
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with PTSD, you know, being on the show, helping veterans,
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moderating, you know, having the show and, and it really is
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important. So if, if, if you guys want to
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chime in, please feel free. We'll take your phone calls
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here. We'd love to hear your stories
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about reconnecting with a battle buddy or long lost veteran buddy
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of yours. It'll be really cool.
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So, you know, the phone number is down below.
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It's 720-619-0627. Again, 720-619-0627.
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You can be live here on our show Veterans Talk.
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And it really is important to stay in touch with your battle
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buddies. You know, I, Joel asked me the
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other day, he called me, text me, say you good man, just out
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of the blue, are you good? Jed Morgan, who runs one of the
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largest, you know, nonprofit veteran organizations, Guardian
8:14
Project of Project Valor and White Hart and Double the
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Amputee. Text me yesterday and said, hey,
8:22
man, just checking in on you. Haven't heard from you.
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Just want to make sure you're good, yeah?
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Right. Because if you're not the kind
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of person that posts on Facebook every day or, you know, it's
8:31
like not out there in the like in the, in the, in the naked
8:36
eye, then people are going to worry about it because, you
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know. Yeah, there's behaviors like
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everybody knows me. I'm talkative.
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I love to talk to people. I love veterans.
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I went out to breakfast this morning.
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I saw an older gentleman there with an army hat on.
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I walked up, thanked him for a service, gave him a coin.
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And as I was walking away, I slid his, his bill into my hand
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and, and I went and paid it for him, you know, and, and people
9:00
don't need to know I served in the military and they don't need
9:02
to know I served in Iraq or Afghanistan or wherever the heck
9:05
it is, you know, Kosovo, Bosnia, whatever.
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They don't need to know that. Just all they need to know is
9:09
that somebody appreciates their service.
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Period. End the story.
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You know, and that's either it's.
9:14
It's bottom line, it's either about you or it's about them,
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you know? Yeah, they still.
9:22
Have have you no, sorry about that.
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Have you heard of, have you heard of the organization called
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Battle Buddy Check? Yes.
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Yeah, so I reached out to him and he said he'd love to be on
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the show. I'd love to have him.
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These are people who drive across the country, across the
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flipping country to make sure that a veteran is OK.
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That right there, my friends, if I get to heaven and they're not
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there, I'll be pretty pissed because that right there if.
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You get to heaven and they're not there.
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You know that probably something happened in the past.
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You know you. You.
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No, they're forgiven. They're forgiven.
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They're forgiven. Yeah.
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We're going to highlight a bunch of support, you know, and stuff
10:01
like that through VA issues, divorce, I mean, personal
10:04
losses. My goodness, that's, that's a
10:06
huge one. As we get older as veterans, you
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know, we lose loved ones, you know, mother, fathers, sisters,
10:10
brothers, you know, I had some uncles and stuff like that.
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And, you know, it gets to be, it gets to be more and more
10:16
difficult. You know it is, especially as a
10:17
veteran, you know? Well, it doesn't help when you
10:21
get older man. I mean, I don't know about you,
10:23
but as I get older, man, is it awkward to talk to people.
10:28
It is really awkward. I'll go into a nonprofit event,
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somebody that I've spoken with, I've known for years.
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And it's like, OK, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm trying to like, you
10:40
know, sit there and, and, and, you know, just stand there for a
10:44
while, you know, to, to wait. But it's so awkward.
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It really is, Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I mean, you, you,
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you touch base about it and stuff like that.
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You know, the, the VFW, there's all kinds of stuff, the VFW, the
10:58
Army Times and stuff like that. In the very back of it, it'll
11:00
say, you know, John Doe looking for battle Buddy or anybody was
11:04
stationed with me in the 808828088 artillery, I don't
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know, air defense artillery, blah, blah, blah, from 1962 to
11:13
68 in Saigon or whatever. You know, those, those are
11:16
battle buddies that are really looking for somebody.
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I'll share with you guys after our break.
11:21
I'll share with you guys some stuff that I have.
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I have my dad's actual yearbook from when he went to basic
11:25
training. And in the back of the yearbook,
11:27
they used to put everybody's phone number and address in
11:29
there. So I reached out to a couple of
11:32
the people when my dad was still alive and, and got him in touch
11:35
with a couple of guys he went to basic training with and it was
11:37
pretty cool. I mean, they talked for hours on
11:39
the phone. Yeah, sad.
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I have that too. Sad thing is most of the guys
11:44
that I went to basic with, they've they've passed away.
11:48
Yeah, I mean, it's, I mean, that's the thing, you know, and
11:51
yeah, but a lot of these non profits have, you know,
11:53
reunions, group chats. I think a group chat is a great
11:56
thing. You know, if the VFW and stuff
11:58
like that would open up like group chats and stuff like that,
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you know, like RWB or the VFW or AMVETS or whatever open up like
12:05
group chats and said, hey, you know, anybody that served,
12:09
here's a fun fact, Odom, Sergeant Odom, he was our S 1, I
12:14
think. I remember you telling me this.
12:16
I don't remember him. I remember you telling me this.
12:19
Such a nice guy he he took care of me all the time, but he is
12:23
the post post quartermaster. Commander or something?
12:29
Yeah, something, yeah of the VFW out in Texas or something like
12:32
that. All right.
12:32
California, San Diego, CA and if you're listening to us, by the
12:36
way, Odom, you're welcome on the show anytime.
12:38
Great guy, but you know, just seeing him in the magazine was
12:41
really, really freaking cool. Like I saw him in this magazine
12:44
and I'm like VFW magazine. I'm like, holy crap, that's
12:46
Odom. I picked up a book not too long
12:48
ago. It was about Iraq and there was
12:51
a private haze was in there and SAP, specialist SAP was in there
12:56
and I think the photo was courtesy of of specialist SAP.
12:59
And I'm like, holy crap, that was my soldier haze.
13:01
Anyway, times I picked him up off the off the off the street
13:04
in Germany drunk. But yeah, anyways, so he played.
13:08
Hard. He played hard in Garrison.
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Yeah. And, and the other thing, the
13:12
other thing is that, you know, we want to invite our listeners,
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share the name of a battle, but they've lost, you know, one
13:20
lesson or value that you carry from them.
13:23
I'll, I'll ask that from everybody.
13:24
I'll I'll tell you one lesson and and and we'll do this after
13:27
the break. When do we take our break now?
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We take our break in about two minutes.
13:31
We can totally take a break. Yeah, we'll take our break real
13:33
quick when you come back. I want to share that with you.
13:36
Just honoring the memory of of our battle buddies, right?
13:38
And just I want to talk about and, and please give us a call
13:42
in if you want to call in or you want to text message or e-mail
13:44
us or whatever, or Facebook or TikTok or Instagram, whatever.
13:47
We'd love to hear from you. But one of the things I want to
13:50
invite the listeners share the name of a battle buddy they've
13:52
lost and one lesson or value that they carry from them.
13:55
And I'll share mine when we come right back after this break on
13:58
Veterans Talk with Yours Truly. DJ Magic Mike and H train in the
14:01
studio on the military broadcast radio.
14:07
How are you? Can I buy some gas for you?
14:11
Can I buy you gas? I got some free gas.
14:17
Yes, Sir, I'd love. To buy gas for you.
17:40
And we're back and we're back here live with veterans, talk
17:45
with your truly DJ. Magic Mike and H train in the
17:47
studio. Hey, listen, if you guys are not
17:49
listening to any of his music, man, I sit here and I literally
17:53
get goosebumps when I listen to coffee.
17:56
Suther How do you say his last name?
18:00
Coffee, Anderson. Anderson Sorry.
18:02
Coffee Anderson I thought it was Sutherland, but for some reason.
18:05
Coffee Anderson Hey, listen, coffee Anderson, I know, I know
18:08
that you got a million things to do and, and and one of them is
18:10
not to listen to my show. Well, I want to tell you, if you
18:13
ever want to come on my show, I'd love to have you.
18:15
You are you're the reason that we put that uniform on and we
18:21
did what we did and went where we went and spent long
18:24
Christmases away from home and birthdays.
18:28
And you're the reason that my 29 year old, my 29 year old son
18:34
says to me, I missed you when I was growing up, dad, but I
18:36
understood what what you were doing for us.
18:39
And it's because of people like you and people, of course, for
18:41
his freedom as well. But you're you're a true patriot
18:45
man. And I, I don't know, I don't
18:48
know why, why we have the honor of having you on the show and
18:53
being able to play your songs. But Mr. Anderson, we salute you,
18:58
man. You are a true patriot.
18:59
Man, that song right there, It's not the first time I heard it,
19:02
but yeah, it just kind of got under my skin today.
19:05
So I appreciate you. We appreciate you at MBR and at
19:09
Veterans Talk. If you ever want to be on
19:10
Veterans Talk, I know you probably ain't got time to
19:12
listen to me. He he probably, he probably, I
19:14
mean, this little radio station, I ain't listening to that
19:16
podcast, but. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
19:19
You know he's talking about people.
19:22
He's a true. Radio slaggy coming off.
19:25
I don't know, man. I haven't heard anything from
19:26
Shaggy. Shaggy is a former Marine, man.
19:28
Well, he's a Marine. Yeah, but yeah.
19:31
So a big salute to you, Mr. Anderson.
19:33
So before we took the break, I was talking about, you know,
19:36
talk about battle buddies and, and long after and stuff.
19:39
And one of the things that I wanted to ask people was is
19:41
that, you know, if, if you have a battle buddy, you want to give
19:43
a shout out to one that you lost.
19:47
You know, the battle buddy that that I remember the most was not
19:52
only a mentor, but a great first Sergeant, First Sergeant
19:55
Rafferty. And one of the things that he
19:59
told me and stuck with me as long as I've known him, even
20:04
well after him passing away in 2006, was he said do the do the
20:12
right thing even when nobody's looking.
20:14
Yeah, and that's what we try to do every day now we we all fall
20:17
short of it and we don't always do it.
20:19
You know, we might walk over that piece of paper or or
20:21
whatever being or driving down the road be like, he's got that
20:24
tire change. I don't need to.
20:25
But for the most part, do the right thing when nobody is
20:28
looking is is really important. So anyway, so we're talking
20:33
about long after service battle buddies, right?
20:36
Yeah, and. I'm I'm still trying to.
20:38
Get that? I'm still trying to get that
20:39
video that you sent me, man. It's just it's, it's not going
20:43
well. But I'm I'm.
20:44
This guy right here. This guy right here.
20:46
Yeah, we just click the link and and and do it here.
20:49
Let me try clicking the link. Try that, you'll have to you
20:55
have to make sure that you share the screen I'll.
20:58
Go hold on a second. Is it working?
21:12
Well, I hear stuff. Yeah, you got.
21:17
To share that. Screen I got it.
21:23
Y'all watching this? That's not it.
21:46
This is here you go. It's it's one of the I mean,
21:52
it's one of the coolest. I think it's a husband really is
21:57
the best person to surprise. He has the most genuine,
21:59
heartfelt reactions to seeing people he loves after such a
22:02
long time apart. His best friend from when he was
22:04
stationed in Japan surprised him at his graduation party in 2018.
22:09
They hadn't seen each other in over three years since he left
22:12
since we left Japan. Almost as good as the first
22:14
video I posted. This video is exclusively
22:17
managed by Bah Bah Bah whatever whatever.
22:19
So I thought that was really cool.
22:22
Anyway, they have a, they have a reunion every year in Florida by
22:28
Tee It Up for the troops. I was, I was trying to get it so
22:33
that I could have a reunion with Sergeant Name and Sergeant
22:37
Armstrong and Sergeant Hein. But, you know, I don't think
22:41
Sergeant Hein's ready for that yet.
22:43
So that's going to have to wait. Military.
22:49
Let me see if I can type this in.
22:50
Military buddy. Rise, reunion.
22:53
All type of military. Yeah.
22:55
Here you go. Right here.
22:55
Here's another one right here. This one's really cool.
22:57
Can y'all still see that? Yeah, this is cool.
23:03
He thinks it's a new dirt bike that he's getting for his
23:05
birthday or something like that. That's pretty cool, huh?
23:18
I heard some idiots having. A retirement party?
23:20
What are you? Doing how you doing Sir?
23:35
These military buddies reunite after being apart for years.
23:38
Check it out. I've, you know, I've never seen.
23:50
Subscribe. I have never seen military
23:53
family member really like that. Look at this.
23:56
So this gentleman right here that's hugging him was actually
24:00
was that the one that helped me surprise him here with the ring?
24:06
Like World War 2. The one on the left right there,
24:09
his story is phenomenal. So listen to his story is
24:12
absolutely. Anyway.
24:21
So yeah, I just thought I'd show you guys a little bit of a
24:25
little bit of reunions and stuff like that.
24:27
But yeah, it's it's it's definitely, it's definitely a
24:32
different kind of feeling. It really is, you know, when you
24:35
come across somebody you served with and stuff like that.
24:38
Scott served with the 54th Engineers.
24:41
We work weekends to get the shaft.
24:43
Remember them, He is the commander of the Albemarle post
24:47
in North Carolina. And I ran into him and, and he
24:50
we were just laughing and joking about Bamberg and, you know, the
24:53
Green Goose and and then his quartermaster and I and, and,
24:57
and us served in Fallujah at the same time.
25:00
We were all in in Iraq the same time.
25:01
He knew some of the same people we knew.
25:04
He was, he, he talked about the long wait in Kuwait for the, for
25:08
the, you know, the showers and the in the chow hall, waiting in
25:11
line for 2 1/2 hours just to get something to eat in the morning.
25:14
You know, I was, let me tell you, I have a skip breakfast
25:17
just because we didn't want to wait in those lines.
25:19
But yeah, I mean, you share, you share so much.
25:23
You know, you, you, you share sorrow, happiness, laughter,
25:28
anger, right? You share so much with these
25:30
people and it's a bond that nobody and and it's such a short
25:34
period of time. And, and, and you bring up a
25:37
good point and that's the reason why I said, you know, my point
25:40
of view, just so that other veterans know that there's a
25:43
huge difference between a battle buddy and a battle friend.
25:46
You know, a battle friend is one of those people where, you know,
25:50
you're like in a fees line and they're in military, you're in
25:53
military. So you guys have something in
25:56
common, but like, you don't know them, you you haven't been in a
26:01
hostile environment with them. So you know, I mean it, you
26:08
know? I, I shared this, I shared this
26:10
story before each train. It's, it's, you know, First
26:13
Sergeant Hendricks, Ranger tapped.
26:15
If you're out there and you're hearing this, he was reaching
26:17
from Fort Lauderdale, FL. It's people like him, You know,
26:19
that that when we were getting rocketed and mortar every day,
26:23
he grabbed me, picked me up off the ground, pushed me into Hesco
26:26
basket, looked at me and just tears falling from his eyes.
26:28
And he said, we are getting out of here alive.
26:30
I promise you that one of us is getting out of here alive, even
26:34
if it has to be you. And he grabbed me and hugged me
26:37
and he hugged me. Wouldn't let go of me, man.
26:38
And, and, and that was something that I, you know, you know,
26:42
these are battle buddies that for for a long time, long, long
26:46
time, right, That we remember and we think of and stuff and,
26:50
you know, just stay connected after our service is, is just
26:53
important, right? Yeah.
26:57
I, I, I don't like, I don't like bringing up negativity or
27:00
anything like that. We talked about it before the
27:01
show, but you know, Chad Michael Post and Jason Varian, 2 of my
27:07
soldiers, 2 great, great guys. Varian was my soldier directly
27:11
in Kosovo. I, I supervised him as my driver
27:14
and Chad and I got promoted up the ranks together.
27:16
He was one of my closest friends.
27:18
I, I, when he deployed for his third tour to Iraq or second or
27:22
third tour to Iraq, you know, I was there and gave a big hug and
27:26
told him, I'll see you when you get back, bud.
27:28
And you know, there, there, but neither one of them are with us
27:32
anymore. You know, Chad text messaged me
27:33
on a or, or messaged me on Facebook and said, man, I really
27:37
need a break, man. I said, come on down the floor
27:39
to hang out with me. And, and, you know, a couple
27:41
weeks later, I didn't hear anything and, and a month later,
27:44
I jumped on Facebook and, and found out that he had committed
27:46
suicide. You know, the same thing with
27:48
Varian. You know, I, I don't want to
27:53
ever, ever have that feeling again.
27:54
You know, the loss of a, of a battle buddy to something so, so
28:03
devastating. You know what I mean?
28:04
I, I just don't want, I just don't want to ever, ever have
28:06
that feeling. And you know, that's why you
28:09
know, it's, it's, it's staying connected even after service.
28:14
I can't say that any other way. And I think it's even more
28:17
devastating when like you just talk to them like the day before
28:21
or the day after, you know, and I mean, you know, there's a lot
28:26
of talk about like if you commit suicide, you know, you're kind
28:30
of doing like a selfish act. But you know, those people that
28:34
say that they don't, they don't know what it's like to be in
28:39
that zone, because once you get in that zone, it's, it's hard
28:42
to, it's hard to get out and you don't want to reach out because
28:45
you don't want somebody to sit there and like talk you out of
28:49
it. You know, kind of like, kind of
28:50
like when you go up to your wife and say, Hey, does this look
28:53
good? Well, of course they're going to
28:54
tell you that it looks good or something, you know, because
28:57
they married you, you know, it's kind of like a, it's kind of
29:02
like a, a, a pity validation, you know, But that's I when when
29:11
I try to commit suicide, that's that's how I felt.
29:15
Yeah. That's how I just.
29:17
I just, I think that we all need to understand that, that, that
29:20
no matter what your trials and tribulations you're going
29:22
through, you know, we, we were in the military, we were all
29:24
going through something, right, Whether it was working late and
29:27
sucking, sucking it up or, or whatever, be it, right?
29:32
You know, we just have to remember our service may have
29:36
ended, but the bond that we share doesn't period.
29:39
You know, emotionally, psychologically challenges that
29:43
we face as veterans every single day, even after right after the
29:47
service. Rather, people don't realize how
29:52
a battle buddy really bridges that gap between the military
29:55
structure of civilian freedom, right?
29:57
I mean, the stuff that you and I joke with H strain, right?
30:00
My civilian friends wouldn't get it, right?
30:01
I mean, seriously, I make a comment and they look at you
30:03
like you're crazy, right? Right.
30:09
You know, just just be in there for, for that, for that bubble
30:12
buddy in the mental health crisis, like H Strain said, you
30:15
know, call to action. I want call to action.
30:17
Every veteran out there needs to reach out to their brother or
30:19
sisters and say, hey, how's it going?
30:21
What's going on? What are you up to, you know?
30:22
What they're going through trauma, you know, absolutely
30:25
everybody is. Every one of them are.
30:27
You know, and then you know that they're going through trauma.
30:30
Give them the damn benefit of the doubt, you know, spend a
30:34
little extra time with them, go out, eat lunch or, or whatever.
30:39
I, I, I do find, I do think sometimes the, the issue is, you
30:45
know, when it's a, a soldier isn't going to call for help or
30:49
call and reach out when it's, when it's convenient for us,
30:54
it's going to be when it's convenient for them.
30:56
We have to keep that in mind because I know several times
30:59
when I've went out somewhere, I got a call and, you know, my
31:03
wife looks at me and she's like, what, what's going on?
31:06
I'm like, I've, I, I got to take this, I got to take this, you
31:09
know, and as a good woman, she's, she's learned to do that.
31:15
But a lot of people aren't like that.
31:18
Yeah, yeah, I agree. I agree.
31:20
A lot of people aren't. I want you to dial this phone
31:23
number. You ready?
31:24
OK, hold on, hold on. Don't tell me.
31:28
Send it in the private chat. I'm going to do it.
31:33
I'm just saying I want you to dial this phone number, OK?
31:37
We're going to call one of my battle buddies and get them
31:40
connected and put them on the show on the spot.
31:42
I love doing this. I love doing this.
31:44
Well, we, we was doing it for a while.
31:47
Yeah, right. I don't think I know this person
31:59
right. No, you don't.
32:01
No. OK.
32:15
Hello. Hey, Eric.
32:16
How's it going? Good.
32:19
Hey, this is Mike. You there?
32:24
Yeah, I'm still here. Yeah.
32:26
Hey listen man, you know I do a radio show called Veterans Talk,
32:29
right? Yeah.
32:32
All right, so and my battle buddy who I served in Iraq with
32:36
and and was one of my soldiers who was injured severely in
32:38
Iraq, he's my Co host. His name's H Train.
32:42
But we have, yeah, so we have a segment, we have a segment today
32:47
called Life After the Military Battle buddies staying connected
32:49
with your battle buddy. And I thought of you and I just
32:51
wanted to give you a call, man 'cause I know we, we've been
32:53
missing each other because of all my treatments and everything
32:55
like that. And I've been a little down
32:57
under the weather and, and stuff like that.
32:59
So I want to reach out to you and, and, and bring you on the
33:01
show, man. So congratulations, you're on
33:03
the show, man. Oh nice.
33:05
Surprise. Surprise.
33:08
Is your wife next to you? He has the most beautiful wife,
33:10
by the way. His wife is such a sweetheart.
33:12
He's actually in the house. I'm.
33:13
I was outside. I'm sure you can hear the
33:15
neighbor's dog going. Oh, actually, we can't, man.
33:18
We got, we got, man, we got a real studio going.
33:20
Are you crazy? Man, We got real good stuff.
33:22
Here I was. Wondering if we caught you in
33:24
the middle of a moment. I'm sorry about that if we did.
33:28
It just. Means more when you know.
33:31
No, we, you know, first and foremost, I, I want to share
33:34
some things with you. So Eric, Eric is a member of the
33:37
VFW Post where I'm at. And this is a guy, this is a
33:40
young guy who's who really goes above and beyond, man.
33:44
He goes above and beyond to help veterans.
33:45
He goes above and beyond to help the community.
33:48
He, he really does help veterans in a, in a way that, you know,
33:51
if he wants to explain, I'll let him explain it.
33:53
But he helps veterans in a way that you guys can't even fathom.
33:56
Seriously. He called me yesterday or the
33:59
day before yesterday. He goes, hey, by the way, he
34:00
goes, I, I got the Huey door back on the Huey.
34:03
We have a huge Huey helicopter outside of our VFW, huge Huey
34:07
helicopter and the door had been broken off or broke off or
34:10
whatever. And it, it was like that for
34:11
years and years and years. And here all of a sudden Eric
34:14
comes along and goes, I got it. I mean, this guy is, has a can
34:17
do attitude about everything. I was so down yesterday day
34:21
before yesterday day. You know, all the treatments and
34:24
everything I'm going through are just like dragging me down.
34:27
And you know, he, he sits there and he calls me man.
34:30
He he doesn't, he doesn't say I screw this guy.
34:31
I'm not going to call him. He continues to call me until,
34:34
you know, he gets a hold on to me.
34:35
And this is really what a battle buddy is about.
34:38
This is really what a what it's about being a veteran and
34:40
staying in touch with veterans and stuff.
34:41
And that's where our segment was today.
34:43
So I just want to give you mad props and, you know, bring you
34:47
on the show and, and see if you wanted to add anything.
34:49
It's your moment, man. Of course, man.
34:52
Hey, you know, we, we got to take care of each other.
34:55
If the Vietnam veteran generation has taught us
34:58
anything is that we rely on each other, we take care of each
35:02
other, we're successful together, you know, and that's
35:06
what our generation, the Iraq and Afghanistan generation needs
35:10
to pull together and do. Unfortunately, you know, some go
35:17
off on their way. We're way, but we're not going
35:20
to leave them behind, bring them into the fold.
35:23
Keep talking, keep pushing, keep serving, you know, and until
35:28
everybody finds a home where they need to be.
35:33
I just that that's my life's work.
35:35
I tried the corporate world after I was retired from the
35:38
military in 2018. It just didn't work for me
35:43
because there was no purpose behind it other than, you know,
35:48
a paycheck and grant. I work the USAA.
35:53
Not going to talk bad about that organization, but you know, it
35:56
is what it is. It's a profit driven
35:57
organization to, you know, get back their shareholders.
36:02
But I needed something different so got into the VBA.
36:08
The Veterans Benefits Administration is a Raider and I
36:12
haven't looked back. And how cool, how cool is it,
36:17
seriously? Yeah.
36:18
I mean, it's a small rule. It's a small rule, but it, but,
36:22
but you're still giving back, you know?
36:24
And, and it's, and it's not just your, it's not just your job.
36:27
You look at it as as your next mission.
36:31
It's your next mission. I, I know it 'cause I hear how
36:33
passionately you talk about it, you know, and, and it's just,
36:36
you truly are what we're talking about on the show.
36:42
It's, it's, you know, it's battle buddy.
36:44
After the uniform comes off, you remain that battle buddy, you
36:47
remain steadfast in your post as a battle buddy.
36:49
And you, you know, you're taking care of, of the veterans, man,
36:52
which is so important and, and being a veteran yourself, man,
36:55
you know, you're like, hey, I got this, don't worry about it,
36:57
we'll figure it out. You know, you even said it to
36:59
me, You know, he's giving me some great advice and and I went
37:03
ahead and ran with it and continue to fight it and and you
37:06
know, I'm 100% and and one of the things Eric said to me was
37:09
it doesn't matter. I don't care if you're 100%
37:11
total impermanent or not. What you need to do is you need
37:13
to get this on your record. And you know, I'm forever
37:17
grateful for him. Seriously.
37:18
I mean, he does so much for the community guys.
37:20
You guys couldn't even imagine, but but I wanted to give a shout
37:24
out to a battle buddy, so I thought I'd give you a call and
37:26
bring you on the show. So in case you don't know, we're
37:30
we're on, we're on TV. You can go to any Roku, we're on
37:33
YouTube, Instagram. After the show is done today, it
37:35
gets uploaded to YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, man, it goes
37:40
all over the world. So yeah.
37:42
So if you got Roku television, download the app military
37:45
broadcast radio. It's an American flag with a
37:47
bunch of soldiers in the middle of it.
37:49
Kind of looks like the the one that's in behind the H train
37:51
there. And yeah, man, download it and
37:54
you can hear yourself and see how ugly we are.
37:56
Really truly on TV, man. We definitely have radio voices
37:59
and not being our faces. So I'm going to ask Eric a
38:01
question since we have him on the line.
38:03
And then after after he finishes and we'll we'll probably instead
38:09
of taking a commercial, we'll, we'll do a tribute to Troop if
38:11
that's OK with you. Yeah, man, that's why, Eric, one
38:16
of the things that we've been discussing is that a lot of
38:19
veterans, I think they get battle buddies confused with
38:23
battle veterans or battle friends.
38:27
What is your point of view on that?
38:31
So, you know, it's it, it's kind of put into us, you know, when
38:36
we first walk in through those big doors in the basic right is
38:41
that you've got, you've got people on your left and right,
38:45
same mission oriented mindset. They're there to accomplish a
38:49
goal, right, service to our great nation and fighting our
38:52
nation's wars, right. You know, it's, it's a deep
38:57
bond. You, you can go anywhere and
39:00
say, oh, you're an Air Force. You were in the Army.
39:02
Hey, how's it going? Just sit down and have a
39:05
conversation. That bond goes a little deeper
39:09
with combat buddies. Been the war, Iraq, Afghanistan,
39:14
Somalia, Kosovo, Vietnam, all over the world.
39:18
Granada, you know, it's, it's a different deeper bond and
39:23
mindset, right, 'cause you have that shared combat experience.
39:28
You, you, you can talk about it. For instance, our VFW, one of
39:33
our guys there just started talking to him about Iraq,
39:37
right? And you know, he's, he's gung
39:42
ho. He wants to continue to serve as
39:44
well. Go figure.
39:45
We're in the same places in Iraq in 2004, 2005.
39:49
We're in the same place in Iraq, up in Mosul in 2010.
39:54
You know, we, we had a lot of commonalities in areas and we
39:58
may have walked by each other in passing, you know, either out of
40:01
the FOB or on the FoB, you know. It's it's amazing how small of a
40:07
world it is for veterans to come back from that and it changes
40:13
their lives in such a way. So it's, you know, the mission's
40:18
not done. We, we've got a lot to deal with
40:20
back here and it continues. It's a daily, it's a daily
40:25
thing. You know, Mike and I talk about
40:27
it. It doesn't go away.
40:29
And that's why we need each other, need organizations like
40:32
the VFW and the American Legion. So we can, you know, come in and
40:37
have conversations, talk it out. We're having a bad day, right?
40:41
So and, and it just, it makes it a deeper bond of conversation
40:45
when you can talk about combat and the things that you've seen
40:49
and dealt with over time. You know, I don't know if you
40:54
guys feel the same way. But I do, I do feel the same
40:56
way. And I think I think a lot of
40:59
veterans feel the same way. It's just I think a lot of
41:02
veterans don't know how to describe that feeling.
41:07
I think a lot of veterans have feelings and that's what
41:12
aggravates them is they don't know why they feel this way.
41:16
And veterans that do feel that way and they've kind of figured
41:20
out, you know, hey, I wake myself up in the middle of the
41:23
night because my body shakes. It's, it's kind of normal.
41:27
It's kind of natural. You know, if we explain that to
41:30
other veterans, I, I think the majority of veterans, they don't
41:35
feel so isolated. They don't feel so like alone.
41:40
But we have to because we don't know how they were brought up.
41:44
You know, I, I think we have to help them express their feelings
41:51
a little bit, if that makes sense.
41:53
Yeah, it, it took me the longest time and I'm, I'm, I'll share
41:57
something with you. You know, while while I was in
42:00
the military, it's part of the medical field, right?
42:04
I carried a top secret clearance.
42:06
You know, when I was in the military, I got destructive
42:09
after my deployment in O4O5I got a field grade.
42:14
I was going through stuff that I did not understand at the time
42:19
and did not understand my whole military career.
42:22
I just had this feeling that I, I just, I couldn't get rid of,
42:26
you know, I was having nightmares, trouble sleeping,
42:29
things that shouldn't stress you out, stress me out, you know,
42:32
and I, I just continued on with it into the senior ranks and
42:36
through multiple deployments. Well, you know, I got retired
42:40
and I was medically retired after 18 1/2.
42:43
It's a whole story in itself. But I, I went and you know, my
42:51
wife was like, you got some stuff you need to deal with.
42:54
And I went to the VA, tried to start talking about it and I
42:58
just couldn't until I met one lady down at the Bay Ponds VA
43:04
Regional Medical Center. And she got me comfortable
43:08
enough and comfortable enough environment to be able to start
43:13
talking and acknowledging my PTSD and the things that I've
43:18
I've experienced and dealt with. And that was profound.
43:22
You know, I know it's there. It's always going to be there.
43:25
I have good days. I have bad days.
43:28
You know, some days I don't want to roll out of bed.
43:30
But you know, again, my job keeps me focused.
43:35
You know, I'm going to get up today because I need to take
43:37
care of veterans today. So it gives you a purpose.
43:42
Yeah. It, it really helps.
43:45
Just like serving with the VFWI got weekend time.
43:48
I've got time. Yeah.
43:50
I like to garden and do things, but focus back on our, our
43:55
military veteran community and, you know, get left behind
43:59
sometimes. And that's, that's our role in
44:01
the VFW is to kind of bring them into the house and say, hey, you
44:04
got a home. That helps me deal with my
44:07
stuff. Again, I don't know how you guys
44:11
feel, but I hope that a lot of veterans start to see that.
44:16
Yeah, I can't. I can't agree more.
44:17
I can't agree. Yeah, I, I, I think veterans
44:20
will start to see that more and more.
44:24
You know, I, I think right now it's just hard for veterans to
44:27
see stuff like that because it is so chaotic right now.
44:32
It's so chaotic right now. Yeah.
44:35
You know, just with life, you know, on on top of that, you
44:41
know, jobs, money, groceries, all that stuff.
44:47
That's all there. We we didn't necessarily have to
44:49
deal with it that much in the military and that's why we kind
44:53
of didn't take too much stock in it until it slapped us in the
44:56
face when we got out. Right.
44:58
You know, here, here's what civilian life was, and you're
45:02
like, Dang, maybe military life was great.
45:05
And it was I love being in the Army and serving.
45:09
I have a good days and bad days, but you know, I love putting on
45:14
a uniform day after day until I couldn't anymore, you know, but
45:21
just, you know, I mean, life is hard sometimes It it just find a
45:25
hobby, talk to people, get involved, stand up and and don't
45:30
let yourself sit by the wayside is the biggest message you can
45:34
send. And don't be able to, don't feel
45:37
like you can't reach out to people for mentorship and help.
45:41
You know, I, I did when I was starting my civilian career, I
45:45
reached out to an organization called Veterati, right, and got
45:49
mentorship someone that been out for five years and worked at
45:53
General Dynamics, big companies, right?
45:55
Hey, what does my resume need to look like?
45:57
What education should I be looking for?
46:00
Voc rehab. I use voc rehab.
46:03
One of the, one of the biggest things I got advised, I just
46:08
finished my bachelor's degree and I'm like, gung ho, let's go
46:10
for that master's and she's my vote create counselor was like,
46:14
take a moment. Because when you hit, yeah, when
46:18
you hit that master's degree level, it kind of takes you out
46:21
of the normal job market because now you have this higher level
46:24
education, you have this significant experience.
46:27
You know, it's going to be harder to get higher, you know,
46:31
and it's we often want to do things on our own.
46:35
We got to listen. And those that have done it
46:38
before us, you know, our Vietnam generation tell you the same
46:42
thing. Hey this is what I did.
46:45
Paths I took. And a lot of people have some
46:48
form of impatience to them as well.
46:52
And I I think that comes into play and that, that that hurts
46:55
as well. So you're exactly right about
46:57
that. Yeah, it just it takes time it
47:01
day by day. I'm still getting aware, you
47:04
know, my wife and I want to be and it's day by day.
47:06
You can't rush the process. You know it'll happen.
47:12
Well, Eric, thank you for being on.
47:15
Hey, Battle, I appreciate you being here, man.
47:17
I'll give you a call a little bit later, man, or whenever you
47:19
get a chance. Shoot me a text and we'll we'll
47:22
link up. I'll tell you what's been going
47:23
on. All right?
47:25
Yeah. Sounds good.
47:26
Thanks, H Train. Thanks, Mike.
47:27
Appreciate you. Hey, I appreciate you, Eric.
47:29
Hey, you're truly a good friend, man.
47:31
Have a good day, brothers. You too, bro.
47:32
Out boy. Everybody we were.
47:36
We were truly a truly a great guy, man.
47:39
We're we're definitely. Blessed to have him on.
47:41
That was kind of cool. How long has it been since you
47:44
talked to him? It's been a couple weeks maybe.
47:47
Yeah, a couple weeks. Yeah, he reaches out to me every
47:49
now and then and you know, he reached out to me the last
47:50
couple days. I was feeling good and and he
47:53
say, man, I don't mean to bother you left me a message.
47:55
I don't mean to bother you, man. I just want to let you know that
47:57
I got that chopper door back on for you and you know, I hope
48:00
you're doing OK. And you know, his wife's
48:02
birthday was just a couple weeks ago or whatever and he, he
48:04
wanted me to go hang out with him and stuff.
48:06
And I just been under the weather man, so.
48:09
But. You know, he's he's just a great
48:11
guy, Just a great guy. So hey, you're listening to
48:13
veterans talk. We're talking about battle
48:15
buddies outside of the uniform. Once uniform comes off, stay in
48:19
battle buddies, right? And on military broadcast radio,
48:23
we're going to go do our tribute to the troops right now, right?
48:26
Yeah. And when we come back?
48:28
We'll, we'll hit the conclusion. So that's it.
48:31
Stay with us, folks. Detail attention first.
48:40
Call. The service member's name is.
48:42
Called out loud in the context of a unit, this is meant to
48:46
ensure all are present and accounted for.
48:49
Second call, the name is called out again louder to confirm that
48:53
the service member is indeed absent. 3rd call the.
48:58
Name is called. Out for a final time, followed
49:00
by a statement indicating that the service member is not
49:03
present and accounted for, signifying their death.
49:07
The final roll call serves as a symbolic gesture to respect and
49:10
remember their service. Sir, I don't I.
49:20
Don't know how to tell the. Story.
49:22
Well, you got the joke. Telling their people what these
49:26
men did here, you tell them how my troopers died.
49:52
Hey, everyone. Thank you for tuning in to NPR.
49:54
Today as we pay tribute to Navy Petty Officer First Class Louis
49:58
Ariel's S Front, age 25, of Miami, FL Petty Officer Salfront
50:04
was born on November 6th, 1982 in New York, NY.
50:08
Petty Officer Salfront was an explosive ordinance disposal
50:11
technician assigned to Hampton Roads SEAL Team based in
50:14
Virginia Beach, VA at the time of his death.
50:17
Lewis graduated from Barbara Goldman Senior High School in
50:20
Miami, FL in June of 2000. He entered active duty on July
50:25
24th, 2000 and reported for recruit training at Naval
50:29
Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, IL.
50:32
After completing both recruit training and Quartermaster A
50:35
school, he reported to Naval Explosive Ordinance Disposal
50:39
School at Elgin Air Force Base, Florida and graduated July 16th,
50:43
2002. Upon graduation, Petty Officer S
50:47
Front reported to Explosive Ordinance Disposal Mobile Unit 5
50:50
in Guam where he trained to be a salvage diver and diffuse and
50:54
dispose of explosives. Lewis continued his deployments
50:59
aboard the USS Essex in support of Argenex 03-01 and Sock X,
51:06
where he earned his enlisted Surface Warfare and Air Warfare
51:10
qualification simultaneously. Additionally, he provided EOD
51:15
support for the US Secret Service in support of President
51:18
Bush's visit to Bali, Indonesia. He then augmented NSW Squadron
51:23
7C Platoon during Sock X and provided the framework for VBSS
51:29
operations in and around the island of Okinawa, Japan.
51:33
In recognition for his efforts, he was over the Navy Achievement
51:37
Medal. When not at work, you could
51:39
always count on finding him out on the sea, doing what he loved,
51:43
diving and spearfishing. Lewis was.
51:46
Screened for and was selected and.
51:48
Assigned to Naval Special Warfare Development Group in
51:52
Virginia Beach, VA in November of 2005, throughout a rigorous 6
51:57
month joint EOD and Sill selection and training course,
52:02
he was the top marksman in his class.
52:04
Recognized as a skilled EOD technician, he was immediately
52:08
deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and participated
52:13
in countless critical missions. He died in Iraq.
52:17
On February 2nd. 2008 He was killed by an improvised
52:22
explosive device during combat operations while attached to a
52:26
joint task force as EOD team lead during his 2nd combat
52:31
deployment to Iraq. The blast also injured. 6.
52:35
Members of his team, Petty Officer Salfrant was awarded the
52:40
Bronze Star for Valor and Purple Heart posthumously for heroic
52:45
achievement during combat operations against the enemy as
52:50
Joint Task Force Assault Team member in support of Operation
52:54
Iraqi Freedom Petty Officer 1 Salfront.
52:58
Is survived by. His parents, Rafael and Claire
53:02
Salfront, extended family members, friends and shipmates.
53:08
We here at NBR. Would like to thank.
53:10
You, Petty Officer Salfront, for your service and dedication to
53:14
our country who leave a legacy of love and courage, and our
53:19
prayers are with your family, friends and those who served
53:22
alongside you. You are missed.
54:02
Belly tail pension ready? veterans voices are.
58:22
Heard MBR talk. Hey, thanks.
58:27
For tuning in, welcome back are those of the speakers and do not
58:32
necessarily reflect the views or positions of any.
58:35
Entities. They represent the web at MB
58:39
Radio. Dot.
58:41
And we would. Like to join?
58:43
You we would like to thank everybody for joining us today.
58:45
Our special guest Eric as well. Our episode today was remaining
58:51
battle buddies after long after the uniform comes off.
58:53
So remember this. I will leave everybody with this
58:56
and this is my closing line, if you will, before we head on out
58:59
is your battle buddy isn't just someone you served with.
59:03
They're part of the reason that we are still standing.
59:06
Reach out to your battle buddy, reconnect and remember that
59:09
you're never alone. For this episode of Veterans
59:13
Talk, I like to thank my Co host H Train in the studio who also
59:17
produces the show. And remember here on military
59:20
broadcast radio, it's not. We're not here.
59:25
For us, we're here for you, giving our veterans a voice.
59:30
Hey, thank you for joining us on Veterans Talk Military.
59:32
Broadcast radio. The radio station gives all of
59:34
our veterans a voice. We'll see you next week
59:37
Thursday, same time, same bat channel lady.